'Coordinated attack' downs Internet services with cut lines

angelburst29

The Living Force
Three major fiber-optic cables - physically severed - disrupting multiple internet carriers.

'Coordinated attack' downs services with cut lines
http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2015/06/30/coordinated-attack-downs-services-with-cut-lines/29527161/

Tuesday June 30, 2015 - Internet providers suffered disruptions Tuesday in what a West Coast internet provider said appeared to be a coordinated physical attack on three high-capacity "backbone" lines in California.

Wave Broadband said three major fiber-optic cables in the Sacramento area were "physically severed in what appears to be a coordinated attack on multiple internet carriers."


Wave spokesman Mark Peterson said the company's subscribers in the suburban Sacramento area were suffering outages, and crews were working to restore the connections, which were severed at 4:20 a.m. local time. Peterson said Wave itself is a customer of the two backbone companies apparently targeted, Level 3 and Zayo. Both backbone companies are based in Colorado.

In a statement, a Level 3 spokeswoman confirmed a "service disruption" and said the company assessing the damage and impact, while a crew on the ground was preparing to repair the line.

Representatives of Zayo did not immediately return requests for comment.

Fiber-optic backbone cables are the interstate highways of the information superhighway, carrying vast amounts of data between decentralized hubs. From there, Internet services are delivered to homes and businesses by smaller cables, including DSL.
 
Another report - to add to the 14 cases the FBI are already investigating - with no leads?

Attackers sever fiber-optic cables in San Francisco area, latest in a string
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/09/15/att-fiber-optic/72340020/

Someone deliberately severed two AT&T fiber optic cables in the Livermore, Calif., Monday night, the latest in a string of attacks against the Internet's privately run backbone.

AT&T is offering a $250,000 reward in connection with the latest attacks. AT&T's fiber optic network is legally considered a critical piece of the nation's Internet infrastructure, and any attackers are subject to both state and federal prosecution. The FBI already has an open investigation into 14 similar attacks on California Internet backbones since last summer.

Livermore is a San Francisco Bay Area suburb that's home to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and many high-tech commuters.

The FBI says whoever has been attacking the cables usually opens a underground vault, climbs inside and then cuts through the cables' protective metal conduit before severing the lines themselves.
 
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